Rubblebucket's Traver learns as she goes

Jan. 25, 2012

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It would be easy to assume that the members of a group known for its funky, psychedelic pop-rock dance vibe come from a background that matches the description. That’s not the case for Kalmia Traver of Rubblebucket, the band born in Burlington that returns to its roots Friday for a show at Higher Ground.

Traver grew up in Taftsville, near Woodstock, where her parents favored traditional music and contra dancing. Traver veered away from that background but not toward rock or dance music; she became the family’s jazz musician.

She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2006, but she’s not done learning. The saxophone player and vocalist for Rubblebucket is learning a lot about popular music — albeit left-of-center popular music — that’s starting to influence the Rubblebucket sound. You can certainly hear ample doses of Talking Heads in the band’s more rhythmic moments, and Traver cited all sorts of current acts — Radiohead, Bjork, Dirty Projectors, tune-yards, Little Dragon — now seeping into her musical consciousness.

“Psychedelic is a really big one, and definitely just rock ‘n’ roll. Back when we were still at UVM and doing our jazz projects, I don’t think Alex and I knew half as much about rock as we do now,” Traver said, referring to the band’s trumpet player and co-founder, Alex Toth. “It’s been a really cool out-of-school education for me now.”

That education has come from the sprawling entourage she and Toth have surrounded themselves with in Rubblebucket. “I have to give a lot of credit to musicians we’ve started playing with. It was just a real breath of fresh air to see people so inspired by this thing that was never on my radar,” Traver said by phone recently while visiting friends in Rochester, N.Y. “I think a lot of our band members now all love getting cool sounds just for the sake of cool sounds. That’s totally overtaken our music, and it’s really got me more passionate about it and paying more attention to production and recording.”

Jazz still plays a big role in Rubblebucket, according to Traver, and its improvisatory nature is apparent in the band’s more free-flowing moments.

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“Everyone in our band, and a lot of other people I know, have been so influenced by jazz and have been through a phase that that was the end-all and be-all of good music,” according to Traver. “Jazz is different because it’s such a language.” Now, Traver said she’s interested in music that’s “original and transcendent,” no matter the genre.

Traver has been applying her ongoing evolution to her role as frontwoman in Rubblebucket ever since the band completed its latest album, last year’s “Omega La La.” She’s putting aside her casual Vermont tendencies for a visual vibe that captures the fun-loving attitude Rubblebucket strives to convey on stage.

“I’ve been working at it really hard. This last year since we finished the album and we were packaging it and getting ready to release it, a lot of my work I’ve done is figuring out how to be a better frontwoman,” Traver said. “It’s, like, so stretching my comfort zone, but in a really good way. My Vermont roots have totally had me not wearing makeup. The way I adorn myself (typically) is whatever way I feel good. Now what makes me feel good is I want to look like a party.”

Traver is slightly apologetic in citing one of her stylistic mentors. “This might sound dumb,” she said, “but Lady Gaga has totally changed the conversation about frontwomen. She’s sort of liberating other performing artists to be weirder than other people wanted them to be. There’s so much you can do.”

That change has to do with more than just shallow surface reasons, according to Traver. It’s part of the entertainment as well as the artistic presentation.

“I would love for it to be a complete experience. It’s a show, and it’s taken us a long time to remember as musicians it’s a show,” she said. “People aren’t there with their eyes closed.”

While her musical style and fashion sense have changed from her days growing up in Vermont, Traver still loves coming home, as she’ll be doing with Rubblebucket on Friday. While one of the band’s co-founders, percussionist Craig Myers, still lives in Burlington, Traver and Toth have relocated to the modern-day musical Mecca of Brooklyn and spend a fair amount of time on national tours.

“The people in Vermont are just always so sweet,” Traver said. “I always get so surprised when I’ve been away for awhile and we have a big gig coming up and (I think) people won’t remember us, and it never fails to totally blow my mind how many people come out singing along. I couldn’t wish for more. It’s totally my No. 1 home.”